This invention relates to a tool for stripping the insulator covering formed of an insulative material such as rubber or vinyl chloride from a covered electrical wire.
The conventional tool of this type used for stripping insulating coating from covered electrical wires comprises an electrical wire holding mechanism consisting of upper and lower jaws at the leading ends of a pair of handles pivoted to each other for opening and closing and a pair of upper and lower cutting blades movable to cut into the insulator coating on the wire and then strip the cut insulator coating from the wire core. Such type of insulator coating stripping tools are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,125,908 and 3,146,645, for example. However, the tools as disclosed in the abovementioned U.S. patents have the disadvantage that since the upper and lower jaws and the upper and lower cutting blades are positioned in substantially the same plane as the handles lie, the leading end of the wire gripped by the two jaws and nipped by the two cutting blades is interrupted by the handles and therefore, the length of a covered electrical wire from which the insulator coating is to be removed is limited and the insulator coating covering the covered electrical wire cannot be stripped off for a substantial distance along the length of the core wire.
And the prior art tools also have the disadvantage than when the insulator coating is stripped off the covered electrical wire, the wire gripped between the upper and lower jaws is frequently displaced inadvertently and the cutting position on the insulator coating varies resulting in improper stripping of the insulator coating. Furthermore, the prior art tools have the disadvantage that since such tools include a mechanism adapted to move the two cutting blades in the axial direction of the wire and the upper and lower jaws are formed as parts separate from the handles, the construction is complicated and not compact and does not have sufficient rigidity. Furthermore, since the prior art tools are designed for use with only a covered solid wire, the tools cannot strip the sheath from a flattened covered electrical wire including a plurality of covered core wires.